


Do not go gentle into that good night

by 1gay_sorceress



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Angst, Background Character Death, Background Relationships, Blood and Gore, Drinking, Drugs, F/F, Flashbacks, Fluff and Smut, Guns, Martial Arts, Minor Character Death, Smoking, Swearing, get on board for the feel train, mafia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-03-06 23:48:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18861430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1gay_sorceress/pseuds/1gay_sorceress
Summary: Philippa Eilhart, feared and respected boss of the mafia is targeted by an unknown threat. An accident that changes everything will reunite her with people she thought she had forgotten and, willing or not, together they will have to face the ruthlessness of the mafia world and find the guilty.





	1. A long night

**Berlin, Germany, December 4th, 21h05:**

“What was that, Radovid?”

A woman with fierce amber eyes asked the man who was tied up to a chair, in the middle of an abandoned building. She looked at him with disdain written all over her face. She was a woman of incredible beauty and everything about her screamed power.

“I didn’t want to do it! I swear! Please Philippa, you have to believe me!”

The man named Radovid looked pleadingly at the woman in front of him, sweaty and bloodied from all the beating he had received. Not from Philippa herself of course, she wouldn’t dirty her hands with the likes of him, but from her men, and her men were ruthless. One man in particular who had already retreated back to their headquarters.

“Philippa, please, it wasn’t me!”

Philippa looked at him with a cold expression, not letting any emotion show on her face. After a silent moment, she turned her head towards her men. She considered them pawns, never taking count of their safety or wellbeing, but they all were devoted to her, strangely enough. Of course the money kept them in ranks, but there was something else too, they feared her, respected her. “See that?” Philippa gestured her revolver towards the trembling boy. “That, is what I call a treacherous little cockroach, who wouldn’t hesitate to betray me the minute I turn my back.” She scoffed, her red painted lips contorting into a smile of pure hatred and glared at him again while her men fidgeted but said nothing in fear of awakening a deeper and much more dangerous anger.

“I never took you for a beggar, really. It’s pathetic. I taught you better than that.” She let out a disappointed sigh and softly shook her head, putting on a fake sad look, staring at Radovid who sank deeper into the uncomfortable wooden chair. “Nothing to say boy? What a shame.”

Philippa extended her arm, pressing the silver revolver into Radovid’s forehead, which only made him shake more. The thought that tonight would probably be his last filled him with fear, he didn’t want to die like that. He was supposed to become the king of the underground, like his father. But no, this hateful bitch would never see him as such, never help him to get what he wants. So naturally he decided to take the matter in his own hands. If only his father didn’t gave everything to Eilhart, then he wouldn’t be in this situation.

“Wait! Please wait!” he yelled, with a trembling voice, cracking under the pressure.

Philippa slightly relaxed her arm and cocked one perfect eyebrow at him. “I can tell you who ordered me to do it! I know who wants you dead!”

“Oh really, you know? You decided that just now, huh? Just before my finger touched the trigger. How convenient.” Philippa said with sarcasm clearly present in her voice. Seeing that Radovid still said nothing, she pressed her high heeled boot onto his groin. He let out a painful yelp. “Well speak, dog, I’m getting really impatient.”

“It’s Sheala!”

The revelation was followed by a deadly silence. Philippa retreated her foot, clenching her jaw. Conflict was apparent in her eyes but she said nothing. No, Sheala would never stoop so low as to order someone to poison her, it was ridiculous. She hated to admit it, but she was a woman of class, if she wanted her dead, she would have thought of something else.

A woman with long wavy blond hair walked out of the shadow, placing herself beside Philippa, with a look of disbelief. Philippa glanced at her, still silent and nodded towards her before placing herself behind Radovid. He whimpered while the other woman advanced before him. He knew her of course, who would not. The associate of Philippa Eilhart, Margarita Laux-Antilles, a big shot in the underworld.

“And how exactly can we believe you? We know you always hated Philippa, since the day she took you in as a child. The meeting with the other gangs was just the perfect opportunity for you to make a move on Philippa’s life. And now you suddenly claim to know who wanted her dead? Do you take us for fools?” she spat the words, glaring down at the pathetic excuse of a man. Margarita was always the peaceful one, she never liked those kinds of interrogation but something about the boy annoyed her deeply.

It’s true, Radovid had always hated Philippa. She was a vindictive woman who only cared about her business and the means to achieve her rise to power. But it was not that part that bothered him, it was the fact that he knew, deep inside him, that Philippa killed his father in her ascension to power. She had then taught him everything when he was a child, he didn’t know why she bothered to do that.

“It’s alright Rita, he will tell me the truth.” She harshly put her two hands on his shoulders, squeezed him and whispered viciously in his ear. “He has a strong desire to live after all. Look at him, all sweaty and begging. So, tell me Radovid, why would you do that, hmm? What could push a coward such as yourself, to betray me? You knew that if you failed, the consequences would be terrible.”

**Berlin, Germany, two days before, city’s underground:**

The entire big shots of the mob were meeting in Berlin’s underground for an assembly. The Yakuza, the Italian, Sicilian, Russian mafia and many others were there. Everyone was reunited in a large underground concert like room, with tables all around. The different members of the mob sat at their own table, waiting for the meeting to begin. Each family had their guards posted besides their table, all ready to jump into action if someone tried something, trust was not something to be expected in this world. They were all waiting for the opening speech which would be given by none other than the ex counselor of Vizimir, Sigismund Dijkstra.

“I heard the Lodge will be here tonight, Eilhart might even make an appearance.” A Japanese man wearing black clothes whispered to this his partner. They were from the Yakuza mafia, the tattoos giving them away.

“Wait… She actually exists? I thought she was some spooky legend since we never saw her at a meeting.” the other murmured.

“Of course she exists, dumbass. How could you think that all she has done could be a legend? Damn, she’s an icon. I think I’m gonna ask her an autograph.” He said, eyes shining with excitement, like a child. His partner looked at him with wide eyes.

“You do that and you’ll probably get shot before you can say ‘Eilhart-sama !’” the japanese chuckled while the other punched him in the shoulder.

The door to the room opened, emitting a strident sound. Everyone stopped talking to see who came in.

“Talk about being discreet.” One of the newly arrived women said. It was Triss Merigold, member of the inner circle of the Lodge. She was wearing a long green dress that fitted her form, her red hair tied in a loose bun. She scanned the room with her green eyes, in search for any threat, she was always looking for them, nothing came past her.

The whole assembly began to whisper their astonishment. “Eilhart, she’s here!” whispered a man.

“Heh, she finally makes her big entrance.” said another.

The whispers kept on until a single grave voice rose in the room. “Everyone quiet down, you’re starting to piss me of.” Immediately the sound died down and Sigismund Dijkstra rose from his seat and walked towards the scene. “Now that everyone has calmed the fuck down, we can begin.”

Philippa Eilhart, wearing a long fur coat, shot a smirk at Dijkstra and went towards her table, followed by two other women. Margarita was the one dressed with a long dark strapless blue dress. The third woman accompanying them had dirty blonde hair and was wearing jeans and a leather jacket. She was quite a sight amongst suits and dresses, not caring a bit about them; Assire van Anahid hitwoman of the inner circle. The last one who followed was Radovid walking anxiously behind them, wearing a black suit. He didn’t seem well and couldn’t stop sweating. Triss shot him a disgusted look, honestly, he’s going to ruin their reputation.

“Radovid, Assire, go sit at the table, I will join you in a moment.” Philippa spoke sternly.

Assire sighed and looked dejectedly at Radovid who directed his eyes to the dirty ground, he never liked this one, she was odd and dangerous. “Why do I have to babysit baldy ?”

Assire didn’t like Radovid either. Well, nobody from the inner circle liked Radovid. He was considered a weakling and a coward, despite what Philippa taught him as a child. They never understood the motives behind his ‘adoption’ but never said a word to Philippa, concluding that if she had done this, it was for clear reasons. And none of them doubted Philippa’s decisions.

“Because I said so. Now go.”

Assire mumbled and moved towards their table followed straight by Radovid, she didn’t want to be here, she just wanted to go back to the manor and take care of her cat, Merlin. Philippa watched them go with an unreadable look on her face.

“What is it Phil?” Margarita looked at Philippa with concern.

“Not to be a downer but the speech began, shouldn’t we sit down?” said Triss.

“Not yet. I have reason to believe tonight is the night someone will try to kill me.” She said with a sombre voice.

“Is that why you send Radovid and Assire away? You believe it’s one of them?” asked Margarita, not believing Assire would do such a thing, Radovid on the other hand…

Philippa just scoffed. “Not Assire, I send her with Radovid to keep an eye on him. He seems suspiciously angsty tonight, and I know for sure he still holds a grudge against me. Not to mention he-”

The door of the room opened, cutting her mid-sentence. Memories came flooding back in Philippa’s head upon seeing the newcomers. A woman in her thirties, hair cut just below her ears, sharp eyes looking right at her. Sheala de Tancarville, just as beautiful as she remembered, her soft features not betraying her manipulative nature. She was the leader of the Kovir Organization, created five years ago, a few years after everything had collapsed around Philippa. They were quickly rising to power and were feared and respected by everyone, but still not nearly as much as the Lodge was. The two women knew each other way before they both were big names in the mafia. Rivalry between the two was always there. They stared at each other with intensity while Margarita, Triss and Sheala’s men stood there awkwardly, observing the exchange.

“I could cut the sexual tension in this room with a knife.” murmured Triss to Margarita earning her a sharp glare by both Philippa and Sheala, quickly shutting her up.

“Philippa.” Sheala broke the silence “I am surprised you found the time to come to this meeting, you’re always so busy killing competition.” The snarky remark came with a smirk. Philippa returned the it.

“You know how business is, killing, money, making an appearance so men shit their fancy pants.” Sheala just narrowed her eyes.

“Well if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go take my seat now.” With those words, Sheala turned her back and walked to the nearest free table.

“Let’s go.”

Philippa, Margarita and Triss joined Assire and Radovid at their own table. “Took you long enough, this one’s no fun!” said an exasperated Assire “What took you so long anyway?”

“Nothing important. Now keep your mouth shut, the idiot in charge is about to speak.” said Philippa, already bored with this meeting, and seeing Dijkstra didn’t appease her mood.

Dijkstra continued speaking, and waiters passed between tables to distribute drinks. Philippa took a glass of red wine and sipped it, she then placed it on the table and turned to look at the man on the scene. He was speaking about the recent treaty signed between the different family’s, forbidding any violence between them in the city of Berlin, the current “Peace City” of the mob. While everyone was looking away, Radovid nervously opened the tiny bottle he had in hand and put the liquid in Philippa’s drink. He gulped down his own drink and slightly relaxed. The task was done, now all he had to do was to wait. He was sure his plan would be successful, simple but deadly, no one had seen him.

Philippa stared at her drink with a blank expression, making Radovid tense. She suspected something, of course she did, her paranoid nature always saving her. She took her drink in hand, twirling the content. Then she hummed and made a gesture towards one of the guards, indicating for him to come closer.

“Drink this, darling.”

He was a young boy in his twenties. He wasn’t sure what to do, why was she offering him her drink? He hesitated, so Triss spoke, without looking at him.

“You heard her.”

Philippa set her eyes on him, waiting. Radovid watched the whole scene, preparing himself to run. He was fucked, completely and entirely fucked. The minute the boy drank, Philippa would know it was him. Never would she suspect one of her inner circle, the only suspect here was him. He knew that. Before the young guard could take a sip, Radovid stood abruptly and made a run towards the exit, bumping into the young boy making the drink fall, shattering the glass. Philippa watched him go, bored and disappointed. Assire and Triss scoffed, looking at him running like he thought he had a chance while Rita rolled her eyes, the boy was so smart when it came to other thing, but planning murder was clearly not his forte.

“So it’s like that.” she clapped her hands twice. The guards were ready to run after him “Catch him. I want him alive.”

“Yes ma’am!” They ran with their guns out, like dogs after a rabbit. The entire room stood, ready to make a move, all whispering.

“The fuck’s going on?” Dijkstra, still on stage, exasperated by the display glared at Philippa.

“Stop frowning Sigi, it makes you even uglier.” Philippa said, a mean smirk on her face while he threw her his most deadly look.

Meanwhile Sheala eclipsed herself from the room. She watched Radovid running at her. “Help me! You paid me to do this, not? Help me!” he yelled desperately, the guards catching up.

“Yes, I did, just so I could see you fail and be removed from Philippa’s family. You see, I knew you could never pull it off, but I needed you out of the picture, if not you would have become an hindrance, too dangerous.” He looked at her in disbelief. He prepared to take out his gun, but he had no time as Sheala knocked him unconscious with hers. “Boys, he’s all yours.”

**Berlin, Germany, present day:**

“She-she paid me! She paid me to do it!” Radovid yelled, trembling like a leaf in Philippa’s grip.

“Why?” she hissed.

“I don’t know! I swear to God I don’t know! She just said that she needed me out of the picture!”

Philippa chuckled. She placed herself in front of him again. Sheala needed him out of the picture, hm. For what? She would deal with that later. “Leave your God out of this, Radovid. I want everybody back at the manor, except for you two” she pointed at two massive guards. “Rita, you too, go back. I’ll deal with him.”

Margarita nodded “As you wish, I’ll see you later.”

She walked out of the building and rode off with the rest of the men. The two guards posted themselves beside Philippa. Radovid stared at her, fear written all over his face.

“Well, you’ve really been nothing but a disappointment to me.” Seems like Sheala would have what she wanted after all. No matter, she needed him out of the picture too.

“Plea- please…” he cried, fat tears running down his cheeks.

“Oh, you can beg all you want.” she circled him like a lioness circles her prey. “No one will come to save you tonight. And you screwed up the chances you had with me.” She pointed her gun at his head. “Such a shame.” she pouted.

“Philippa, do-don’t do this! We can come to an arrangement!” he tried desperately to change her mind, knowing deep down that it would be fruitless. One does not simply betray Philippa Eilhart and live to tell the tale.

“Sure, sure Radovid, once you’re dead.”

He yelled and then a deafening sound was heard in the building, the gun had fired. She looked at the dead corpse, no emotion showing. The two guards gulped.

“A good thing done. Now, let’s go back to the manor, I’m starving. Let him where he is, if he is found people will know who did it. That'll teach them not to mess with me.”

She walked out of the building, followed by the other two and entered her black BMW. One of the guards took the wheel while the other sat beside him. Philippa was checking her mail while she lit herself a cigarette. They rode off on the main road, unaware that a car was following them.

“Don’t lose her.” Sheala de Tancarville sat at the back row of her car, looking straight ahead at Philippa’s. They came at a descent and the car before them was going faster instead of slowing down. “What’s going on?” she exclaimed looking at the car with a confused face.

Back in Philippa’s car, she noticed this too. “What are you doing you dimwit? Slow down!” she yelled at the poor man driving.

The guard panicked and put his foot on the breaks, tapping it frantically. “Ma’am! I think someone trafficked the breaks!”

“For fuck’s sake.” she deadpanned, knowing what was about to happen. They were arriving at a crossroad, driving way too fast, with a truck coming from their right. Philippa was seriously starting to panic, but she hadn’t much time for that before the truck hit their car creating a deadly shock.

Sheala jumped in her seat, scared for Philippa. She shouldn’t, she shouldn’t be scared like that. Not for her. Not after all that has happened. But she couldn’t stop. She couldn’t stop looking at how the car spinned until it crashed in a building. “Go! At the car right now! We have to-” save her.

She stopped herself, but her men understood and sped up towards the upside-down car. Once it had stopped, Sheala ran to where the BMW was, fast as lightning.

“Philippa!” she cried in anguish. “Philippa can you hear me?!” The car was on its hood, oil leaking out of it. Sheala cursed and kneeled to look inside, not caring about the two guards who were probably dead. She saw Philippa, unconscious and bleeding. “Lads! Help me get her out, quickly! The car is about the explode!”

“But, ma’am, shouldn’t we leave her there? Didn’t you want her dead?” asked one of them. No, no. She wouldn’t let her die like that, she couldn’t.

“It was not a question.” she said with a deadly voice. They hurried at her side, slowly pulling Philippa out of the car trying not to do too much damage. One of the men took her in his arms and carried her to their own car. Sheala followed and sat down, taking Philippa’s bloodied body in her arms, gripping her as if she was going to vanish in thin air. As she said, the car exploded, fortunately they were already in theirs before it happened, avoiding the shock wave.

 _Don’t die. Please don’t die._ Why? Why was she thinking like this? She had wanted her dead, no?. But now, seeing her like that, it revived bad memories. Memories she had sworn to forget. Tears welled up in her eyes but she didn’t let them escape, her men couldn’t see her like this.

“Where to ma’am?” Sheala thought about the one person who wasn’t affiliated with any gang. She had no choice; it was that or letting her Phil die. _Her Phil? What the fuck am I thinking._

“Yennefer. Go to Yennefer.” If Phil made it out alive, she would probably hate her more than she already did.


	2. Morphine and pain

Sheala cradled Philippa’s head in her arms, who was still unconscious and barely breathing. She was holding her close while the car drove into the streets of Berlin as fast as it could. Her black dress and coat were drenched with the blood of the woman in her arms.

Restless, she directed her gaze out the window and noticed that the sun was coming up, which meant that Yennefer should be in her house instead of her clinic.

Anxious was a euphemism compared to the state she was in. Going back to see Yennefer while carrying the woman’s dying sister in her arms was not the plan she had for today, but Yennefer was the only one who could save Phil.

Philippa’s family was… Complicated. Yes, that was one way to put it. Her adopted mother, Tissaia, was considered the queen of the underworld until she had retired. When they were children, she had taught them everything they needed to know, from business to killing. This training made Philippa and Yennefer celebrities in the world for their skills but not in a good way: politicians, SWAT, cops, everyone was after them. Of course, they were after the whole underground but Yennefer and Philippa certainly set the bar high.

After five years of doing dirty work for the mafia, Yennefer choose a different path then Philippa, she was never one to take a side and preferred to work alone. But still, she stayed close to the underworld and became a very well-known doctor for the mob. Everyone knew about her, and about her underground clinic in Berlin, who was meeting quite a success. Philippa was the opposite, the two of them were like oil and water when it came to their jobs and hobbies. She loved the plotting, the business, the killings. She even partakes sometimes in tortures, ever since she was a child, she loved the danger, it gave her a thrill. So, she climbed the ladder, became more and more famous, dangerous, everyone respected her, feared her, some hated her for being a woman in charge of one of the largest mafia family, that brought her in the situation she was in right now.

Then there was the case of Yennefer’s daughter: Cirilla. Growing up in a family like this made her a bounty hunter, ironically and much to Yennefer’s dismay, the girl chose the same life as her father. She made quite a name for herself, with her background, crime running in the family and the whole mafia world knew of them. Sheala became acquainted to them when she was only thirteen, Tissaia taking her under her wing after she had been living a life in the streets, but that story is for another time.

She was brought back from her thoughts by one of her men.

“Ma’am, we’re approaching.” He slowed down the car and parked it a little further from the house where Yennefer supposedly lived.

Well, ‘house’ was not the word she was looking for. More like villa. The family had a thing for big houses, and they weren’t known for their discretion, showing their power, daring anyone to come after them if they had the gall to do so. Sheala inhaled deeply.

“You stay here, I’ll go.” Her men nodded, not insisting on coming along.

She gently took Philippa in her arms, securing her and got out of the car. She advanced quickly towards the gate, opening it and moving through the large court. Once she came face to face with the black wooden door, having her hands occupied, she raised her leg and gave two kicks to the door. She waited anxiously but nothing came so she knocked again, this time louder.

“Yennefer! Open the goddamn door!”

Footsteps were heard inside the house, quickly approaching the door. After a few clicks, indicating the many locks that had to be unlocked, the front door opened to a raven-haired woman with violet eyes, dressed in simple black shirt and sweatpants. She was clearly tired and hadn’t slept in a long time. Seeing Sheala, the said woman narrowed her eyes in a menacing manner.

“What are you doing here?” the venom dripping in her voice made Sheala slightly flinch but she recovered quickly, not showing weakness.

“There’s no time to chat, your sister is dying.” she said sharply, nodding her head towards the woman in her arms.

“Wh-” Yennefer gasped upon seeing Philippa’s bloodied body. “What in the world happened?” she exclaimed, Sheala opened her mouth to speak but Yennefer cut her before she could utter a single word “You’re right, no time, quickly follow me.”

She ran off inside the house rapidly, descending the stairs leading in the basement. Sheala followed without hesitation, descending the stairs as well, revealing an operation room that had nothing to envy to even the most prestigious hospitals. She looked around impressed by all the machinery present. Philippa shook in her arms, coughing blood, “Shit shit shit shit!” she carefully deposed the dying woman on the table.

Yennefer prepared her tools, put on latex gloves and retrieved a syringe, she then planted it in Philippa’s forearm emptying the content. She sighed, “Okay…”, she took scissors and tore up her sister’s white silk shirt. She began prodding, examining the extent of the damages.

“Internal bleeding, several ribs broken and I think her right lung is pierced. Her right eye took some damage too.” she said with a strained voice, then examined the rest of her body “A broken leg… the other is fine.”

“Tell me you can do something.” pleaded Sheala.

“Of course I can, do you know who I am? Philippa might sometimes be a horrid bitch, I’ll not let my sister die. You’ll have to step out, I need space and no distractions.” The violet-eyed woman said, not lifting her gaze from Philippa’s body, preparing everything she would need for the operation. It was going to be a crafty one.

Sheala nodded, not arguing and marched towards the stairs. “And Sheala.”, she turned around listening to what the doctor was about to say. “You better have nothing to do with this, or so help me…” her deadly voice cut the air.

“I don’t. I wouldn’t have brought her here if I had now, would I?” Yennefer nodded, her face still made of stone and Sheala left the room. She understood why Yenna did not trust her, after what she did all those years ago… But still, it hurt. After seeing Philippa like this, the fear of losing her for good still lingering, she was ready to find the bastard who did this and maybe mend the wounds that were made in her and Phil’s mind, but that journey would be long, gaining her trust again would certainly prove to be quite a challenge.

Once upstairs, she took time to look around her. The house was big and modern. The walls were made of black wood and the interior screamed wealth. It was obvious Yennefer did a lot of money running her illegal business. She walked into the large living room and sat on the leather couch in front of the fireplace, waiting for news, trying to stay calm, but her leg bouncing off the ground betrayed her anxiety.

She hadn’t noticed the person who entered the room until a hand touched her knee. She jumped and stared at the intruder. A young ashen haired woman had taken place beside her, a sympathetic smile gracing her face. She had a long scar running down her left cheek and was dressed in black suit pants, white shirt and holsters were held around her shoulders. “Hey, Sheala, it’s been a long time.”

The older woman relaxed and let out a sigh. “Indeed. You’ve grown quite since the last time I saw you”. She shot a glance at her scar “It healed nicely.” She remembered the day Ciri was wounded, the scar then was not a pretty sight but it seems Yennefer did her job, now it was just a clean slit.

“Yep, but the bastard who left me that didn’t.” She chuckled darkly. “So, why are you here? I didn’t think you and mom were on speaking term.”

Against her better judgment, she decided to tell the story to Ciri, there was no use in lying, she would know sooner or later. The young girl was almost twenty and there was no fooling her. She explained everything to her, from the meeting to the accident. Ciri took her head in her hands.

“So…” she began with a trembling voice. “You’re telling me that… Aunt Phil is downstairs… between life and death?” she looked up to Sheala with a pained expression, her eyes shining with unshed tears, she didn’t remember ever seeing such despair on Ciri’s face. The woman knew how much Ciri admired Philippa, since she was a little girl in fact, always looking up to her, wanting to be like her, she would be devastated if she died.

“…Yes.” she hesitantly took Ciri in her arms, for comfort, and when the young woman relaxed and reciprocated the hug, Sheala squeezed her gently. “But it’s going to be alright, she has been through worse. She’s going to make it out alright.” Her words sounded like she was trying to convince herself not the ashen-haired girl.

Ciri just nodded and stayed in Sheala’s arms, waiting with her. Quickly, Sheala closed her eyes and fell asleep, what a long night it had been.

* * *

When the sun fell, after a whole day, Yennefer came back upstairs, exhausted the operation had been rude but she managed it, she always does. She went to the living room, greeted by Sheala and her sleeping daughter on the couch. The latter had been gone for two months tracking some politician, and apparently the job was done now. She allowed herself a little smile, this sight had not been seen since Sheala’s disappearance ten years ago, the reminder of this event made her smile vanish and a cold expression replaced it.

She cleared her throat. “Ladies…” They didn’t move so she gave a kick against the couch, making Ciri jump up while Sheala just groggily opened her eyes. The young woman turned towards the intruder, noticing Yen, her eyes immediately lit up.

“Hey mom!” the young woman got off the couch to give her mother a hug. “Hello my ugly one” the violet-eyed woman said playfully, Ciri pouted at her like a child.

“Oi, I’m not ten anymore stop calling me like that.” Yennefer only laughed and ruffled her daughter’s hair.

Upon seeing Yennefer, all traces of sleep disappeared from Sheala’s face and she quickly got up her eyes pleading. “How is she?” Yennefer extracted herself from her daughter’s embrace and took a deep breath. Worry washed over both Ciri and Sheala, they already expected the worst.

“She’s out of danger for now.”

They both let out a relieved sigh and Ciri flopped down like a sack on the couch. “Hallelujah” she raised her arms “I need a drink.” This remark got her a disapproving look from Yennefer, but Ciri ignored her and went to the alcohol cabinet. Yennefer forgot sometimes that she was now a fully-grown woman.

“There’s a but…” Sheala said.

“Yes, there is. Her lung is okay, her ribs will heal with time, and even though she has a broken leg it will be fine, it was not too damaged and should be completely healed a month from now. But that’s not the worst”.

She passed a hand through her hair while the desperate woman in front of her waited with bated breath for the bad news. “Her optic nerve was severed during the accident and one of her eyes was physically damaged, it will scare. She… Well, there is 99% chance that she will be blind. Permanently. I don’t know if there’s anything I can do; the damage is deep.”

Ciri looked completely defeated, gulping in one go her glass of whisky and Sheala sat down on the couch, staring blankly at the floor. “This… this will destroy her Yen.”

“I know… I know that all too well. But I know my sister even better, she’s strong, stronger than anyone I know. She will get through this.” Yennefer said with conviction, all her faith in her older sister. Even though the two of them were always at each other’s throat, Yen couldn’t help but care deeply for her sister, they were family after all.

Ciri blinked up at her mother, pulling herself together. “We need to call grandma. She will know how to deal with Phil once she’s awake.”

Yennefer groaned “Ciri…” Sheala just watched the exchange, choosing not to intervene. She knew too damn well who they were talking about.

“Come on mom! They may be in some sort of cold war and even though she won’t admit it, aunt Phil needs her, and you know it.”

Yennefer gazed at her daughter, this stubborn child. “We won’t call her, and that’s the end of this discussion.” She then turned towards mentioning to follow her. “Sheala help me move Philippa upstairs, carefully, she will need constant attention.”

Sheala shot an apologetic look at the ashen-haired girl and followed Yennefer downstairs to retrieve Philippa.

As for Ciri, she knew what she had to do. Her mother would certainly give her a good piece of her mind for doing it, but that was a detail, no one will stop her, she will help Philippa in her own way. She took out her phone and called THE number. She waited a few bips, then a soft but firm voice answered.

“Tissaia speaking.”

“Hi, grandma.”

* * *

It had been two weeks since the accident and Philippa was still unconscious. Sheala insisted on staying to look after her, her host having no reason to say no but she was still wary of her old friend presence in the house. They took turns to watch over the unconscious woman, making sure she wasn’t going back in the danger zone. During those two weeks, Sheala had time to reacquaint herself with Yennefer and Ciri, slowly bringing back the friendship they had before everything burned to ashes. The wounds were not fully healed, far from it, but it was a beginning.

Even though Yennefer didn’t show it, she was worried about her older sister. Two years and the first time she saw her again it was all a mess. Seeing her like that revived too many painful memories that she thought she had buried. She remembered how Philippa was always getting into trouble, protecting Yen against the outside world, of course she never actually meant for Yennefer to see it like that, always hiding behind that insufferable arrogance. Now it was her turn, she wouldn’t let her die, she would never forgive herself if she did. So, they waited, hoping that she would finally wake.

* * *

Philippa slowly opened her eyes, or one eye more like, she felt a thick bandage covering her right one; she was completely dazed and didn’t know where the hell she was. _Am I high? Where’s the fucking light, I can’t see a thing_. She couldn’t see. Nothing at all. But she heard a beeping machine and she felt an oxygen mask on her face. She took it off as well as the cables linked to her arms.

She was completely and undeniably high, she felt it she knew it. Oh yes, she felt it. Morphine.

“Morphine huh. It’s niiiiice. Been a long time since I was under.” she giggled. Philippa Eilhart giggled. Damn she must be really far gone. “Okay, okay. Get up, find the freakin’ light.”

She tried to get up, but her ribs prevented her from doing so. She groaned in pain and noticed that her right leg was up. Fuck. A broken leg and ribs it is then. She let her head fall back onto the many cushions. “Amaaaazing.” She cackled. “No getting up for me then. Hm. Let’s try this then.” She took a deep breath and…

* * *

“HEYYYYYYY” a shriek interrupted all activities going on in the house.

“Philippa!” Sheala jumped off her seat and ran upstairs. She opened the door and saw Philippa awake in her bed. “Who’s there? And where the fuck am I?” she groaned and moved her head towards the sound of the opening door, shrieking had been a bad idea, her ribs hurt even more now.

“It’s me Phil, Sheala.”

Sheala slowly approached the queen-sized bed and took Philippa’s hand in hers taking in her appearance. A bandage covered her right eye and she had a busted lip, bags under her eyes too, she had seen better days but Sheala couldn’t help but notice that the woman in front of her had only grown more gorgeous. The wounded woman flinched but relaxed, recognising the touch, it’s been so long since she heard that voice. This voice who whispered sweet nothings to her when they were young, this voice who calmed her down every time her anger took control.

“Sheala? Wha- No, you know what, I’m too high for this. Just turn the lights on, will you?” She waited impatiently for light. “Well? What is taking so long?”. She heard her ex-lover sigh.

“Phil… The stores are open, it’s… It’s the afternoon.”

Yennefer and Ciri appeared in the large room, but Philippa didn’t seem to notice. “I don’t understand… what are you saying…?” her voice shook, she hated this, being in this state, showing weakness she was sure that pity was written all over everyone’s faces and she couldn’t stand it.

This time Yennefer spoke up, surprising Phil “You’re in my house Philippa.” confused, Philippa raised her head in the direction of the voice. “Yenna?” Another voice she had not heard in quite some time.

“Yes.” she spoke softly to her sister. “You had an accident. Someone trafficked the breaks of your car and… Well, let’s just say you got lucky.” Philippa tensed and Sheala held her hand tighter. She didn’t want to let go, even this little contact was enough for her to revive her old feelings.

“What exactly are you saying? Why’s everything dark?” She knew of course, she was not stupid. But she didn’t want to admit it to herself, she needed to hear it.

“Your optic nerve is permanently damaged… You’re… blind. I’m so sorry Phil.” Yennefer clencher her fist, prepared for Philippa’s anger to lash out.

And it happened, Philippa began shaking with rage and denial as she shouted “You’re a doctor no?! Do something!” Yennefer shook her head “Phil… I can’t…”.

Philippa’s voice was shaking “… Out.”

Ciri watched the whole exchange with tears in her eyes and followed her mother downstairs, she couldn’t bear to look at Philippa while she was like this, seeing the ever so strong and confident woman crumble like this. Sheala was ready to follow but the hand she was holding wasn’t letting go.

“Not you.” Philippa held her head low. “Stay with me. I… don’t want to be alone right now.”

Sheala sat beside Philippa and gently took her in her arms, breathing in her scent, how she had missed it.

“Of course.”

Philippa returned the embrace as much as she could without hurting herself. She raised her hand and traced Sheala’s cheek then her hair and she stopped suddenly.

“Did you cut your hair?”

“It was getting annoying, always in my eyes.” Philippa’s hand stayed there. “Hm… I like it. Well as much as I can like something I didn’t actually see.” She chuckled humourlessly.

“It will be alright Phil.”

The woman only sighed buried her face in Sheala’s neck. All those years of rivalry had torn them apart. She missed the days when they were young fools in love, parading into town to do mischief. She missed her darling Phil more than anything and she regretted what happened, to this day still it was eating her.

“I missed you.”

Philippa said nothing, already asleep, exhausted because of the morphine and her sudden reappearance in the land of the living. Sheala knew that when she would wake up, hard things were about to begin, the morphine would no longer appease Philippa, and she will be back as much as the situation allowed, to her normal self.

* * *

A sharp knock rang through the house. Ciri, who was seated on the kitchen island gulped as her mother glared at her “Ciri… What did you do?”.

Without waiting for an answer, she got to the front door and with a deep breath opened, facing a middle-aged woman with long black hair and sharp eyes. She adorned a soft smile as she stared at her.

“Hello Yenna.”


	3. Good memories, bad memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The flashbacks are written in italic.

“Hello Yenna.”

Yennefer sighed and threw a dirty look at her daughter who just avoided her gaze looking everywhere but at her mother. She directed her eyes to the woman standing on her porch, tall and elegant, you could barely tell she was fifty-seven. Tissaia de Vries stood in all her glory, dressed in a tailored suit and a long dark green coat with high heels on.

“Mother, it’s been a long time.” Said Yennefer with clenched teeth. Don’t mistake her attitude for hatred towards the dark-haired woman, she loved her mother, but the situation was hardly appropriate for her to show up after two years without any news.

“Well, aren’t you going to give me a hug daughter?” she smirked.

“I know you hate hugs, now please come in, I think there’s a lot to explain.” the violet-eyed woman threw again a glance at Ciri who tensed.

“Yes indeed.”

Once in the kitchen, Tissaia sat, legs folded on one another and arms crossed waiting for an explanation as to why she had to come here so urgently while Yennefer served her a cup of tea, Tissaia nodded in thanks and drank a bit. She was tired and thirsty from her long journey, she had not properly rest in two weeks, since the call from young Ciri worrying her to no end.

“I shall explain everything, Mother, as soon as my dear daughter explains to me how she could contact you, but not us?” she hummed and with pinched lips, gazed at the ashen-haired girl awaiting an answer. Ciri fidgeted on her feet, searching for the right words.

“Erm.. well… You see… erm…”

“Out with it.” The words cut deep into Ciri who tensed even more and she rushed the next words that came out of her mouth.

“Iwasincontactthiswholetimeforbountycontracts.”

Yennefer narrowed her eyes “Repeat it slowly, my patience is running thin.”

Tissaia just sat there watching the two women speak with amusement, she was not about to intervene to help her granddaughter, this was much too fun, watching her fidget like a five-year-old caught red-handed doing a mischievous deed. Cirilla cleared her throat and took a deep breath.

“I was in contact with grandma this whole time, because she was the one who gave me bounty contracts.”

Yennefer froze and Ciri could have sworn she felt the temperature drop. As for Tissaia she barely contained her laughter. The petite woman’s eye twitched, the vein in her neck indicating an incoming out burst showed. Ciri gulped waiting for her doom, Tissaia sipped her tea with a little smile enjoying the display.

“You what ?!” _There it is,_ Tissaia thought. “The two of you have been in contact and none came to me to tell me ?!”

Tissaia placed her cup on the table and looked at her angry daughter with her eyes calm, posture relaxed “Stop being so dramatic, I-” but Yennefer spoke before she could finish her sentence.

“And you!” she pointed her finger at her mother “Giving her contracts, encouraging her to do this!” Ciri winced as Yennefer continued “I accepted the fact that she chose this life, but to have a member of this family aiding her like that while I expressly told you not to get involved in this matter! Even Philippa didn’t dare give her jobs and God knows she has some!”

“Speaking of darling Philippa, how is my little troublemaker?” Tissaia said, changing the subject. Yennefer scoffed, little troublemaker was what Tissaia used to call Philippa when she was a child, now little troublemaker turned out to be giant fucking criminal. So Yennefer, not calming down a bit, yelled letting out her frustration.

“She’s upstairs, just woke a few days ago from a FUCKING ACCIDENT! A bad one, while you were on your little vacation, she was almost killed by someone! A RIGHT MESS!”

Finally calming down, Yennefer came back to herself with uneven breath, Ciri watching her with wide eyes, certainly not used to seeing the composed woman lose control like this. Tissaia sat, speechless, her dark eyes wide not believing what she heard. Someone attempted to kill her daughter? Well, that was not so surprising but the fact that it almost succeeded was another matter.

“She-”  Tissaia stood, leaving Ciri and Yennefer in the kitchen, passing the large hall and getting upstairs towards whichever room was Philippa.

“Master bedroom!” Yelled Yen.

* * *

Philippa woke to yells coming from downstairs. She recognised the voice of her sister but did not quite made out the words she was howling. She groaned and felt arms around her, she opened her eyes looking for the owner of the said arms and remembered what happened earlier. _Right, blind. Then this must be…_

* * *

_"Sheala…” a groan “Sheala…” a body turned away from another on a bed fit for queens “Sheala !”_

_“hm… What is it Phil?” Sheala’s voice was husky from sleep._

_Philippa looked at the naked body of her partner, admiring the lines of her back with her long black wavy hair covering half of it, tracing it with her fingers, shivers running down the spine of the other woman._

_“We have a meeting in an hour, we should get prepared.”_

_Sheala turned her body to face her lover, brown eyes meeting amber ones. They were in Philippa’s bed at the boss Vizimir’s castle in the mountains of Germany, entangled in the sheets after their previous, glorious night. She straddled Philippa’s hips, the other woman now on her back, fully exposed to Sheala’s heated gaze. Sheala watched Philippa’s body like a hawk, trailing her gae down her body, her defined cheekbones, her beautiful amber eyes, those shiny dark-brown locks. Hm, and those breasts, she could never tire of looking at her. She smirked at Philippa, who had now her pupils dilated with lust and lowered her head to take her right nipple between her lips, sucking on it, making the dark beauty moan with pleasure._

_“Should we? We still have an hour my love, I’m sure I can make you come in five minutes.”_

_Philippa scoffed “And here I thought I was the arrogant one…” another moan escaped her lips as Sheala kissed her stomach and descended towards her most private parts._

_“Oh but you are, I learned it from you after all.” Before Philippa could retort with one of her many witty comments, Sheala put her head between her legs._

* * *

It was Sheala’s turn to wake up, _this dream…_ Was actually a memory, a long-lost memory that she should not dwell on. Philippa was twenty-seven at that time and herself twenty-four, a year before everything turned to shit. She noticed that Philippa was no longer in her arms, and saw the other woman sitting on the edge of the bed apparently managing to move a little now. _She must have regained her senses._

“I don’t know what to make of it.” Said the wounded woman with a cold voice. Sheala swallowed.

“What to make of what?”

“You being here. Tending to me. I know you’ve been here for the past two weeks and I don’t understand why.” She had her back turned on Sheala, so she could not see what expression graced the face of the mafia boss.

“I… Well, I could not possibly leave you until I knew you were sa-“ a humourless laugh stopped her.

“Oh please, spare me your excuses.” She then turned sharply towards Sheala, her right eye still covered and left eye staring into space but there was this unmistakable fire in them that never left Phil. “Why are you here? Why were you caring for me while I was in a coma, hm? For all I know it could have been you that put me in this situation! After all you ordered that scum Radovid to poison me!” Sheala wanted to retort something but Philippa wouldn’t let her. “YOU betrayed ME ten years ago, failing to kill me that time, remember? So, you could have trafficked the car to finish the job since the poisoning failed miserably, but no you waited until I awoke, so why? You wanted to look me in the eye while you killed me?”

Sheala shook her head. She understood why Philippa felt this way but she had to reason her, get her out of this paranoia. “It wasn’t me! I wouldn’t be so stupid as to pass everything for an accident nor would I wait for you to wake up and then kill you. I know damn well that even in the state you’re in you could easily overpower me, not counting the fact that your sister and her daughter are downstairs! And the poisoning… Well I knew it wouldn’t work and I don’t doubt you know why I did it. Now calm down you’re going to reopen your wounds at this rate.”

It worked, Philippa slowly relaxed but she was still angry, Sheala could sense it. “You’re right, as much as it pains me to admit it. Now that you’ve explain yourself you can get out and never return, I don’t wish to here your voice again.”

Ouch, that hurt. Sheala didn’t show it but those words had cut deep. “Very well.” She said with a tight voice.

Philippa lowered her head and clenched her fists, lips pinched together. How dared she come back into her life like that? Swooping in as if nothing happened. She heard Sheala getting up, opening the door then she heard a gasp, clearly coming from her ex-lover.

“My my, what have we here?” This voice. _Shit, of all the places, why the hell is she here?_ Thought Phil.

Sheala swallowed, that was the last person she wanted to face right now. Fear gripped her stomach and it took all of her will to not start running. Tissaia de Vries, the famous queen of the underworld was standing tall in front of her, dominating the whole room, the woman who saved her as a child and probably the second woman who hated her the most.

* * *

_Rain, tears, blood, despair. The streets of Berlin were drowning beneath the rain swallowing the sound of the fighting. The streets were empty, except for corpses lying on the ground. It was dark, cold, a moonless night of winter. Two women were facing each other in the street, bloodied, drenched to the core and breathing heavily._

_“How… Could you do this to me?” said the woman with amber eyes, face contorted by anger. One arm was trying to stop the bleeding of her stomach caused by a knife, a gun in the other, empty. She watched the love of her life, standing in front of at least thirty men, leading by none other than Henselt, bastard mafia boss Henselt. That misogynistic and brainless pig._

_“How could you do this to me Sheala ?!” she then yelled, at the top of her lungs. Behind her were the corpses of Vizimir’s men, some she knew since she was a child, murdered by Sheala and Henselt’s forces. She wasn’t sad, no, they had taught her about meaningless attachment to the people you worked with, that it was useless. But she wanted to cry for the betrayal that just occurred. She had allowed herself to trust, to love this woman who she trained, laughed, grew with. She fell to her knees, she couldn’t stand anymore, she had fought all night long and her wounds wouldn’t allow her to continue._

_Sheala approached her now ex-friend, ex-lover with tearful eyes. She didn’t want to do this but she had to… she had to… Yes, she had to. She cried as she pointed the gun to Philippa’s head._

_“I’m sorry my love… I’m so sorry.”_

_Philippa just raised her head and glared at her lover. No, not her lover, a fucking traitor. Her gaze burned Sheala, it was so intense, so full of rage and hatred, it made her cry harder, her hand shaking._

_“Do it Tancarville.”_

_It was Henselt, that miserable, wretched man. “DO IT! IT’S AN ORDER! » he yelled at her. The bitch Eilhart had killed half of his men that night, yes, she was indeed a prodigy, a demon in the skin of a woman, and he will not allow her to live to see another day, he had to end it tonight or he will die._

_“Yes, do it Sheala. Do it now or I swear that when my strength is back, I won’t spare you, oh no, I won’t.” Philippa’s words were dripping with pure, unshackled hatred._

_Sheala was about to pull the trigger when the screeching of wheels came to her ears. She raised a head to see a black BMW coming towards them, followed by many others, stopping behind Philippa who took the chance to disarm Sheala and kicked her in the guts, making her fall to the ground with a muffled yell. The angered woman straddled her._

_“Never get distracted in a situation like this my dear.”_

_Henselt’s men drew their guns and pointed them at the newcomers but it was useless, they were surrounded by men, weapons drawn. Henselt raised his hand to tell the men to lower their weapons, which they did. Philippa was going to punch Sheala but a hand stopped her. She tried to free herself from the iron grip but couldn’t, her strength was giving up._

_“It’s over Philippa.” Tissaia. Of course it was Tissaia. “Henselt, you better go back to your turf and never show your face here again or I won’t hesitate to slaughter all your men where you stand. I will let you live this time, to maintain the peace in the underworld, but believe me, you will face the consequences of attacking a member of my family.”_

_Her voice was calm, but Henselt knew that she was not joking. Tissaia de Vries never joked about such matters and her stare… her stare was frightening._

_Philippa lowered her head until she was nose to nose with Sheala, a single tear running down her cheek, falling down on Sheala’s._

_“I never want to see you again. Or you’ll face a fate worse than death.” She said, voice shaking._

_Tissaia watched them, Sheala especially. She had taken the girl in and this was how she repaid them. A shame really, she was the light in Philippa’s life, she had changed her, she was capable of making Phil smile in a matter of seconds, but now… Now she was sure her daughter would change again, this time for the worse. She helped her get on her feet, passing an arm around her daughter’s waist, supporting her. Sheala got to her feet too not without difficulty, she threw a last glance at Philippa, tears still flowing, you could notice it even with all the rain pouring down._

_“Goodbye my love.”_

_She turned her back and walked towards Henselt’s men and left. Once they were all out of sight Philippa broke down, if it wasn’t for Tissaia supporting her, she would be on her knees again, she clutched her hands at Tissaia’s coat. She cried, cried for what happened tonight, cried for this cursed life that was forced upon her, cried for the men she had lost tonight, but most importantly, cried for the woman she had loved and will never touch again, kiss again, hold again._

_Tissaia took her daughter into her arms “Shh, it’s going to be alright darling, it’s going to be alright.”_

* * *

“Sheala is not going anywhere darling, she will sit down this instant and shut her mouth while I talk.”

Sheala gulped, and did as she was told, there was no use in defying the command. She sat down beside the bed while Philippa groaned at her mother.

“Wow, look who’s back, surprise after surprise really. An accident, then it’s Yennefer I’ve had the pleasure of seeing again and dearest Sheala.” She said with sarcasm as Sheala clenched her teeth “And now you. How lucky.”

Tissaia stood in front of the bed, watching her daughter, evaluating the extent of the damage. She seemed to have recovered for the most part. She ignored her daughter’s words and addressed herself to Sheala.

“Sheala is going to stay here. As I heard before coming in, she wasn’t the cause of your accident, and as she showed, she stayed here to care for you. So, Sheala. You’re going to stay with us until we figure out who did this since you’re one of the people who probably knows more about the event. Am I clear, dear?”

“Even if you hadn’t ordered me, I would have stayed to do exactly this.” Sheala said with conviction.

Tissaia nodded sharply “Good, because you don’t have choice anyway.” She glanced at Philippa.

“Look at me Philippa.” She said sharply.

Philippa turned her head towards where she heard the words, and then Tissaia noticed the thick bandage covering her daughter’s right eye. She then noticed that her left eye was unfocused, she quickly put two and two together.

“Don’t tell me… You…”

“Yes _mother_ , I’m blind. Isn’t it fantastic?”

Tissaia exhaled a shaky breath. This was worse than she thought, her little prodigy had gone blind.

“Are you terribly disappointed? Your little prodigy has gone blind, how dreadful for you I’m sure.” She said with bitterness. Tissaia sighed and shook her head, she placed herself in front of Philippa, and took her in her arms. Phil’s eye grew wide, not expecting this.

“Yes, I’m terribly disappointed.” _Of course you are,_ thought Philippa as she bit her lower lip. “Disappointed that you think so little of me. It pains me to see my daughter like that, because I know. Don’t act so strong, I know how this must make you feel. Useless, weak. You can’t shoot anymore, you can’t fight anymore, how could you, you’re blind. Yes, that’s what you think, but it’s all wrong my darling. This will make you stronger and I will prove it to you. You’re not weak, not useless, you never were, you never will be.”

The words spoken by her mother shook Philippa to the core, and she finally allowed herself to cry. She buried her head in Tissaia’s shoulder as the latter soothed her, gently caressing her back. She felt like she felt ten years ago, the day she promised herself to never cry again, never be on her knees again and not to trust again. But here she was, crying like a child in her mother’s embrace.

Sheala felt like an intruder, she watched this precious moment with a pained expression, she had wished to never see Philippa again like she did ten years ago.

After ten minutes, Philippa had calmed down so Tissaia withdrew herself from the hug. Phil dried her tears and sat straight again. Her mother clapped her hands twice.

“Everybody up, Sheala you help Phil. We’re going to the kitchen, it’s time for a meeting.” With these words she left no doubt to go in the kitchen as she said.

Sheala stood and walked towards Philippa who sighed. “Well, come on help, I’m a little disabled at the moment in case you haven’t noticed.”

The dark-haired woman rolled her eyes and passed an arm around Philippa’s waist and helped her up. “Let’s go greet the merry band.”

* * *

“Aunt Phil!” Ciri exclaimed as she saw her aunt in the doorway to the kitchen, she held her in a bone-crushing hug, the other woman groaning.

“Ow ow ow. Calm down child, I have three broken ribs. And I told you not to call me ‘Aunt Phil’.” She hissed.

“Sure sure, aunt Phil, come sit down.”

 _That girl, she never changes._ Thought Philippa as she sat down at the table rolling her eye, Sheala taking place beside her.

Yennefer was seated in front of Philippa and Ciri in front of Sheala, Tissaia was seated at the head of the table. She took the liberty to serve tea to everybody beforehand. “I think it’s time for a meeting-”

“Without me?” a gruff voice interrupted. Philippa recognised it and that’s why she had now the urge to bang her head on the glass table.

“Dear god, not you.”

Everybody groaned, everybody, even Tissaia. The newcomer just laughed. “It’s good to see you too darling Phil.”

“Dijkstra, how did you get in?” Yennefer asked, annoyed.

“I’m a spy, doll” her eye twitched at the surname. “It comes with the job to know how to get in houses unnoticed.”

“Not with that fat arse.” commented sharply Philippa. Ciri almost spat her tea on Sheala as she tried to contain her laughter, even the woman beside Philippa tried not to laugh. Yennefer looked at her sister, amusement written all over her face, it was good to hear her sassy comments again, especially when they were not directed at her.

“Always so charming. I heard you ended up blind, how sad.” Said Dijkstra, without a hint of sadness.

“Indeed, what a chance, I don’t have to see your ugly mug anymore.”

Dijkstra gritted his teeth together, Philippa and himself had not been on good terms since a very long time and she always knew how to get on his nerves. He was about to reply but Tissaia raised her voice before he could.

“Children, please. This is important, so Sigi, please sit down and do me the favour of shutting up while I talk.”

Dijsktra tsked, but sat down at the other end of the table and crossed his arms.

“We can all agree that we need to know who did this to Philippa, so I need information, what a chance you’re here Sigismund.” She threw a fake smile at the man who only frowned and continued her speech “We need to resume you’re training as soon as possible Philippa.”

“What?! You’re kidding right, I’m blind.” Exclaimed the said woman.

“And she has a broken leg.” Said Yen.

“That is no problem at all, the leg will heal and Philippa will learn to do without her sight.” Philippa scoffed but Tissaia didn’t stop. “We’ll start with the shooting, you will need to learn how to spot your enemy by his movement, scent, breathing. Then we’ll go back on the martial arts.”

This woman never stopped, she was restless, she just got home to see her eldest very injured but all she was talking about was training. Yennefer shook her head not believing her mother.

“Ugghhhh….” Philippa threw her head back.

She had to go through this training as child and now she had to regain everything back without her sight, what a pain in the ass. The training was already hard the first time, Tissaia being no gentle teacher, but now it will prove to be even harder and there was no chance of her arguing against, first of all because Tissaia always had her ways and second, she needed this training, she knew it perfectly well if she were to survive against the many opponents that had no doubt surfaced after the accident, taking on the chance to burn her empire to the ground.

“I will help!” said Ciri joyfully, this was the perfect chance to train with Tissaia and to see Philippa in action. Tissaia smiled and nodded at her.

“Perfect. Now, it’s a priority, we need to contact the members of your lodge Phil, no doubt they will know more and I think they would be glad to know you’re alive.”

“They didn’t try to contact her in the past two weeks though.” Said Sheala, frowning. “They might have a problem, I’m sure they would have tried to know what happened if everything was alright on their side.”

Philippa scoffed “What would _you_ know about them.”

Sheala opened her mouth to retort but what Dijkstra said next froze everyone to the bone. “Actually, that’s why I’m here. The manor burned down a week ago Philippa, nobody has heard about them since.”


	4. Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry about that late post. I'm not very consistent on my work, but don't worry I'm not giving up on this fic, chapters will be posted if a not regularly, but they will. 
> 
> Enjoy some badass family moments!

“What do you know?” she only said that. Her face didn’t betray any kind of sadness, distraught or pain at the news, nothing while Yennefer had her fists clenched, trying hard not to let her emotions take to best of her, mostly thinking about what happened to Triss, her best friend. Sheala and Ciri were much in the same state and Tissaia… Well she was Tissaia, she usually wore a mask but no doubt she felt just the same as the others, she knew the women who worked with Philippa, she had trained some.

“I heard the news three days ago. I wondered if I had to come here to tell you or not, because you know Philippa, I couldn’t care less if you died right now.” At that Philippa scoffed but didn’t interrupt. “But I decided, ever so kind, that I’ll do the honours of telling the great Philippa Eilhart that her little family has been completely… Wiped out.” He had the audacity of looking smug, in front of them.

Philippa clenched her jaw. A sharp intake of breath next to her, Sheala didn’t fare well at the news and neither to the attitude of Dijkstra, she wanted to end the man right there. “And how do you know they didn’t escape?”

Dijkstra laughed, an ugly laugh. “Because the manor has been inspected to the last ashes. Nothing but ruins and burned bodies. Eight bodies, my dear.”

“Oh god.” A whisper from young Cirilla, tremor in her voice.

“I’m afraid your glory days are done darling Phil. How the mighty has fallen.” He retreated his back to his chair, arms crossed, content.

Philippa couldn’t bear to hear his voice anymore “Mark my words Sigi. I will kill you one day.”

Dijkstra laughed again, his voice booming off the walls, everyone was tense from anger at the table while he was having his laugh. Nobody intervened, Philippa would handle it they knew it, it was her business.

“And how, pray tell, will you do that? You’re blind, you can’t shoot anymore without your eagle eyes, and you’re certainly in no state to stand alone right now.”

Without wasting another second, having heard enough, Philippa reached for Sheala’s knife who she knew had strapped it in the inside of her left thigh as always, she always had one there, and before anyone could react she took it in hand and threw it right past Dijkstra’s head, scratching his cheek and lodging itself in the wall behind the man.

“Holy shit.” The ashen-haired woman commented.

Dijkstra didn’t move, eyes wide open, shocked by the display, he gulped, he didn’t expect that she had regained, in such little time, some of her talents. Cold sweat dropped down his back. Philippa came back from the land of the dead not even two hours before but she was already this aware. If she regained her strength back, there’s no telling how many people will die in her path for what they did to her and her people.

“I may not see, but I smell your disgusting perfume, I hear your heavy breath and your voice.” her gaze was directed right in front of her staring at nothing but with fire in her right eye, eyebrows frowning with determination and anger. Everyone was dumbstruck, Ciri was looking at her aunt with admiration, like a groupie who just saw her favourite boys band pass in front of her, Tissaia wore a proud smile on her face much like Yennefer’s. And Sheala fell in love all over again, damn if that woman still had that effect on her after so long.

“Now, spy. You can bugger off to the world’s end, you are not welcome in this house I think Yennefer can agree on that with me.”

The concerned nodded “Indeed, I agree fervently.”

“Superb. I don’t think you want me to repeat my self Dijkstra. Get the fuck out.” She hissed towards him.

He got up, scratching the chair’s foot on the floor trying to compose himself again. He cleared his throat. “Right. Well, have a good day and do whatever you will with this free information. But you don’t have anything left Philippa, bear that in mind.” And with that he left without a sound.

The tension around the table was unbearable, no one dared say anything and then… Philippa just laughed, a real laugh, a relieved laugh, a loud laugh. Sheala stared at her like she had grown a second head.

“Have you finally gone mad?” She asked indignation in her voice while her ex-lover laughed at the information that had just been dropped on their heads. Her colleagues, no, her family was dead, burned to the ground and she laughed. Yennefer had her gaze down, arms crossed, Ciri had her head in her hands and Tissaia stared at her daughter, lips pinched.

Philippa calmed down and took deep breath. “Are you quite done?” asked Tissaia.

“Yes I am. The big oaf bought the story, I couldn’t feel better.”

Yennefer raised her head “What? What do you mean?”

Philippa smirked, everyone waiting for an answer and then she spoke. “Did you think I had gone to the meeting without a plan?”

“What does that mean?” asked Sheala with impatience.

“Now now, I will explain so everybody shut up and listen.” She waited to hear if anyone had something else to say, then began her explanation. “I knew someone would try to kill me that night. I planned everything six months prior to the event. If I didn’t come back from the meeting, the girls had clear instruction, burn the manor down and spread out. Don’t contact me, don’t contact any of the girls and wait for my signal.”

“But… Dijkstra said they found eight burnt bodies.” Intervened Ciri, confused.

“Indeed. For that was the bodies of captured enemies. I kept them especially for this occasion. And before anyone comments on the cruelty of the act” she said sensing someone was going to say something. “Those people are scum. Rapists, murderer working for the enemy and they tried to kill me and the girls, a good enough reason for me to kept them so they would have further use in their miserable life.”

Tissaia hummed. “Clever.”

“Thank you very much for your approval, now that we understand each other I can continue. So, the plan was that, burn the manor and the bodies so that our enemies think that we’re decimated, and that I’m dead. Why? So that I can strike back without anyone bothering me in my preparations, so I can track down the ones who wants us dead.”

Sheala passed a hand through her short hair. “You planned everything? Even the accident?”

“Oh no, the accident was not planned, I could have seriously died that night” she chuckled.

“Very amusing.” Deadpanned Yennefer.

“Don’t you think? Triss is waiting for me to call her, and give instruction to everyone so we can start.”

Yennefer let out a relieved sigh at hearing Triss’ name, hearing that Philippa decided to put some salt in the wound. “Right, I forgot you had a sweet spot for red-headed women. You would think otherwise considering your ex-husband.”

Anger crossed Yennefer’s features “You shut-”

Tissaia shifted in her seat, raising her voice before the two sisters could fight. “Start what?” she said intrigued and quite impressed with her daughter.

“My plan. To bring the five down.”

“WHAT?” yelled Yennefer.

The five lords… and lady of the mafia : Henselt, Foltest, Emhyr, Meve and the replacement of Vizimir, they didn’t know who it was yet. But soon. They controlled the underworld, they were like… An assembly of kings and queen, they decided which gang could do this or that, establishing treaties, roads in all the country and outside so the different families could conduct business. It was the government of the underworld. The lodge managed to reach the five position, as an external organisation but they had the same authority as them and they didn’t like that.

“Yes, it’s time to end them. They wanted me dead? Big mistake.” Said Philippa with determination a nasty smile gracing her aristocratic face. Sheala looked at her, if that was her objective, she would need a lot of resources, a perfect plans and allies. And that objective spoke to Sheala, especially because it involved killing Henselt.

“I’m with you.”

Philippa turned towards the voice of her ex-lover and placed her hand on her thigh. The gesture shocked Sheala but she didn’t show it. “I’ll need allies so, I’m willing to give you another chance, don’t betray me this time.”

Sheala squeezed Philippa’s hand to show her that it was without question, and also to feel her skin again, so addictive even with the slightest of touches. After a moment, Philippa withdrew her hand and took a deep breath.

Yennefer spoke up “But… Meve outrightly supported your arrival in the five. Why would she want to kill you?”

“Maybe she didn’t want to. I’ll contact her in due time for explanations and maybe… a potential ally. But that’s for later… What about you? Will you aid me?” this time addressing herself to all of them.  

Yennefer spoke first. “It’s a dangerous endeavour, what you intend to do. One does not simply try to kill the five, they control almost everything in the underworld.”

“Exactly that. _Almost_ everything. There is a neutral ground in Germany, everyone goes there, the only rule being no killings. No starting fights with others, otherwise you break the neutrality and that means your death.” Yennefer sighed and rubbed her forhead.

The dark-haired woman threw her hands in the air.  “Ah, what the hell I’m already involved anyway.” Philippa smiled and nodded towards her sister.

“ME TOO! I want some action!” exclaimed Ciri, Yennefer suddenly turned to face her daughter.

“Absolutely not! Out of the question!”

Philippa didn’t acknowledge Yennefer’s comment. “Perfect, young blood is what we need.”

“Philippa, I’m her mother I decide what she-”

“Oh come on Yen, let the girl have some fun, even if you refuse she will go behind your back you know that, you can’t chain this one. Besides, at her age you already were part of the mafia.”

Yennefer groaned and Ciri looked eagerly at her mother. Philippa was right, no matter the answer she would help her aunt but she preferred to do it with her mother’s consent. After a moment Yennefer consented. “Fine.”

Ciri let out a yelp of joy then Philippa waited for the last answer, the most important. Tissaia had been silent during the whole conversation and when nobody talked anymore, she finally spoke.

“Brilliant as ever Philippa. I can’t wait to hear the rest of the plan.”

Philippa paused. “… Is that a yes?”

Tissaia raised her head. “Why of course, I wouldn’t have it any other way. You’re my daughter, I won’t give up on you.”

Philippa didn’t say anything, but anyone could see she was grateful for everyone support. “Right. I need to get in contact with the others and I need the check my casinos.”

In addition to being a boss of the mafia, Philippa had multiple business going on around including casinos, a great source of income. Her casinos were known all around Europe and many came to play in them. “I suspect Sabrina is hiding in one of them, she was always fond of gambling. Too fond. Anyway, we should-”  

From the corner of her eye, Ciri saw a glint of light outside the house, she had no time to think before yelling “GET DOWN!”

No time for surprise everyone got down on the ground just as a shot was fired through the large window of the kitchen, right where Philippa’s head was moments ago.

“We’re compromised.” she said. “We need to get out of here and find another place before this bastard shoot us all.”

“Any idea who this might be?” asked Sheala, stomach down on the floor, she was half on Philippa, shielding her.

“No. It might be the Five, it might be the government who learned of my supposed demise.” She had not time to rejoice in Sheala’s warmth and certainly no to fucking think about it, another shot was fired.

Ciri slide up from the ground to the wall next to the window and took her two Glock 19 in each hand, Yennefer crawled to the kitchen island, followed by Tissaia and she opened the cabinet, who surprisingly didn’t contain any utensils but a whole arsenal of guns and other weapons. She took a rifle and threw it to Sheala who catch it and cocked it. Tissaia took herself a shotgun, no need for subtlety at this point.  

“Can someone see them?” yelled Yennefer through the sound of the shots, which became more and more fast, the window was shattered and many things in the kitchen broke, holes on white wall. It was as if the person shooting didn’t try to kill them, but warn them, that or he was a very bad shooter.

“Sure!”

“Where ?!” Yennefer paused, then glared at Philippa “This is really not the moment.” Philippa responded to her with a laugh seemingly not disturbed by the event.

The shots suddenly stopped, without wasting a second Sheala grabbed Philippa’s forearm. “We need to get out of the kitchen while we have the chance, we’re too exposed here.”

She led Philippa out of the kitchen who stumbled because of her leg, followed by the rest of them. She then got up and put Philippa’s left arm around her shoulders, securing it in her left hand and her other arm around her waist. “This leg is getting way too annoying.” mumbled the blind woman.

“What the we do?” asked the youngest.

“They’re probably going to try to enter the house. We need to hide and wait for an opportunity to take them out.” Spoke Tissaia. “Find a place to hide, quickly and stay silent.”

They split up to find each a place to lay low and to wait for the mysterious assassin to come into the house. Yennefer got upstairs, Ciri downstairs in the basement and Tissaia in the living room, behind the couch. Meanwhile Sheala stayed with Philippa, the latter couldn’t possibly be left on her own, so they choose to hide in the bathroom. Sheala sat Philippa down leaning her back on the bathtub, she sat beside her. She held her gun and cocked it waiting silently for the stranger to show up. She looked over to Philippa to see that the woman had her eye closed, she was breathing slowly as if she was meditating.

“What are you doing?” Philippa let out an annoyed breath at the question.

“Imagining myself in a bed with three women.” Sheala scoffed at the answer, a peak of jealousy rising in her. It was stupid, Philippa just answered that because she asked a stupid question but she couldn’t help it. She knew that in the ten years they were apart, Philippa surely didn’t stop herself from flirting and fucking every damn woman she wanted, like when she was young. “I’m focusing, so that I can maybe hear the bastard coming in before he annihilates me.”

Sheala nodded and stayed quiet. Soon Philippa heard the faint creak of a door being opened and light, very light footsteps. “They’re here.” Whispered Philippa. Sheala gazed at her with a confused expression, she didn’t hear anything, but she decided to trust Philippa, it wasn’t the moment for doubts.

Philippa raised her left hand and pointed her finger at the door to tell Sheala the assassin was approaching towards them. The short-haired woman took a deep breath and got up placing herself beside the door, waiting for it to open while Philippa stayed put, the bathtub was right in front of the door. The blind woman chose to stay there, trusting Sheala to strike at the right moment. The door slowly opened revealing what seemed to be a feminine body, completely dressed in black, face covered. The supposed woman had her gun pointed straight in front of her and when she caught sight of Philippa, she was ready to shoot.

“Hi there.”

Before the assassin could do anything Sheala hit her head with the butt of her gun making the woman fall stumble but not enough to incapacitate her. The masked woman catched herself on the sink before turning towards Sheala raising her gun, but before she had time to shoot the other woman disarmed her kicking her in the face, a crack was heard, probably a nose broken, the assassin quickly recovered and stroke back aiming for Sheala’s head who blocked the punch with her left arm, she was thrown against the wall and barely had time to stand upright again before a kick was sent her way and she dodged it.  

“Go go Sheala!” whooped Philippa, clearly finding some amusement out of the situation.

“Help me you fucking bitch!” yelled Sheala while she struggled against her opponent who had now a knife in hand. Philippa deciding to finally sprung in action, extended her good leg and kicked the woman once, missing her completely but then redirected her leg to kick her behind the knee, making the masked assassin fall on one knee, then Sheala quickly put herself behind her and began to choke her.

“Oh, tell me you’re choking her, always loved it when you did that to me.”

“Not now.” Said Sheala, flustered by Philippa’s word. The assassin was trying to break free but didn’t manage before she fell unconscious. Sheala dropped the woman to the ground and fell back, catching her breath.

“I would have paid so much to see that.” Added Philippa, glee in her voice.  

Sheala glared at her “I think we had enough action for the day.” She whistled to alert the others. “We’re clear!”

As soon as the words were said everyone got out of their hiding place to go see who the mysterious assassin was. They came to the bathroom watching the three women on the ground, a smiling Philippa, proud of herself like a child, an exhausted Sheala and a very unconscious assassin. “We should tie her up, and see who she is” said Yennefer.

* * *

 

They had tied up the assassin to a chair in the living room. Thankfully Yennefer’s house was situated away from the city, alone in the wide plain that extended far out from Berlin. Philippa was seated on the leather couch next to Sheala, Yennefer was leaning on it, Tissaia stood beside the mysterious woman and Ciri was kneeling in front of her.

“Well…” without further ceremony, Ciri did what they were all waiting for, she took the assassin’s mask off revealing the face of a brown-haired woman, still unconscious. Cirilla gasped at the sight that took place before her eyes. She knew this woman, very well in fact. “Milva ?!”

Sheala narrowed her eyes at the young woman. “You know this girl?”

“Of course I know her! She worked with dad on many jobs. You know, the band he affiliated years ago mom, ‘the Hansa’.”

Yennefer’s eyes gleamed in recognition “Oh yes, I do remember. But… why would Geralt’s band be involved in Philippa’s murder?”

“Well dear sister, your ex doesn’t like me very much.” Philippa groaned. “It wouldn’t surprise me he had a part in it.”

“It would surprise me” said Tissaia. “I’ve known Geralt for many years, you too Phil, you know he doesn’t accept this kind of contract, especially one involving Yenna’s family.”

Philippa clicked her teeth together and tapped Sheala on the thigh. “Guide me to this ‘Milva’ will you?”

Without question, Sheala took Philippa’s arm and hoisted her up, the blind woman took one of her crutches in the other hand and followed Sheala who placed her before the assassin, Ciri moved out of the way. “Just what are you planning to do?” asked Yennefer with suspicion.

Philippa didn’t bother with an answer as she cracked her fingers. Sheala held her up by the waist, ever so affected by the proximity she had with the other woman but it was not the time to be distracted. Philippa took a deep breath and pawed the other woman until she found her face, when that was done, she held her head up and quick as lightning struck her left cheek, sending the poor unconscious woman’s head in the other direction rather violently.

“WAKE UP!”

“Jesus…” mumbled Ciri, her aunt could be very frightening.

The tied-up woman’s eyes flew open, she jerked her head up towards the one who slapped her ready to deal with them. But she quickly sobered up when she saw who was standing in front of her, with a very angry stare. No mistakes here, even beaten up like she was, Milva would recognise Philippa Eilhart anywhere. “Shit…”

“I wouldn’t have said it better. I think you should talk before I struck the other cheek.”

Milva searched for her surroundings her eyes landing on Ciri. “Ah… I thought I saw a grey mope of hair. It’s been quite a long time, Zirael.”

“Don’t you Zirael me! You tried to murder my aunt! And threaten to kill my mom, Sheala and my grand-mother, have you lost your mind?!” Snapped the young woman. It was at this moment that Milva took notice of the other women. Yennefer, Tissaia and Sheala, all big shots of the mafia, staring down at her with cold expression. Oh was she in deep shit, she had poorly calculated her chances.

“And a very failed attempt might I add.” Mocked Philippa. “Now talk, I don’t have all day. Actually, WE don’t have all day, if you knew where we were hidden then others will too. We need to move quickly.”

“I thought so. This place isn’t safe anymore Yen.” Said Sheala, looking at Yennefer who just nodded.

“Yes, I’m going to prepare somethings while you interrogate her, try to find a place where we could go.” And with that she left the room.

“Cirilla go help her.” Tissaia added.

“But-” Ciri wanted to know what her friend was doing here.

“No buts.” Ciri groaned, knowing that there was no point in arguing and left too, leaving only Sheala, Philippa and Tissaia with the prisoner.

Philippa turned her attention back to the young woman, even her could feel the unease emanating from this so-called assassin. “Better start talking before I lose my patience. Don’t let the broken leg and the eyes fool you, I can end you in an instant.”

Sheala let herself fall on the couch behind her, she took her cigarette holster and brought one to her lips, lighting it and exhaling the smoke deeply. Philippa moved her arm out and without needing to ask Sheala gave her one and lighted it for her. The sight of Philippa smoking, so smug, looking at her victim always had a special effect on Sheala. Sensing the heated gaze of her former lover on her, sent a shudder down Philippa’s back, to respond to the stare she only smirked not at all easing the aroused state Sheala was in. _Focus damn it, there will be time for that later._

“Well?” Philippa said, realising a puff of smoke.

Milva gulped. “… Someone hired me. I… didn’t want to at first but… I needed the money, and they told me you would be alone and vulnerable, that you were last sighted near Yennefer’s house.”

“You endangered Yennefer knowing that would probably severed your bonds with Geralt? I thought you liked the man.” Came the stern voice of Tissaia.

Milva flinched, searching for her next words while Philippa sat quietly, waiting for the rest of the story. “You don’t understand! I had no choice! I didn’t talk to Geralt about it obviously, and when I saw that all of you were there in the kitchen, I… decided to warn you by missing my shots and… I don’t know that maybe you could help me.”

Philippa clenched her teeth, trying to remain calm “And after that you still tried to kill me and Sheala when you came in the bathroom. How do you want me to help you huh?”

“I panicked! I should’ve surrendered! But I thought that wouldn’t stop you fromm killing me!” Milva was getting desperate, she had put herself in quite predicament.

“What do you mean you had no choice?” This time it was Sheala who spoke.

The younger woman took a deep breath “Whoever put a contract on your head Ms. Eilhart, took someone dear to me as a hostage, someone I would do anything for.”

“Who did they took?”

Milva lowered her gaze, eyes watering. “I’m sure you know Angouleme, she’s part of Geralt’s team. She’s like a daughter to me, I suspect they took her because they know my attachment to her. Knowing that I also knew you on a certain degree thanks to Geralt they chose me to do the dirty work. Plus I’m a sniper so that was perfect for them.”

“Damn it…” whispered Sheala.

Philippa passed a hand on her face. “Anything else I should know?”

Milva nodded and looked straight at Philippa. “I don’t know who put that contract on your head or why they did it, but they’re very desperate to see you dead. The price for your head is… enormous and it’s public, soon others will come after you, you’re not safe in this house you should seek somewhere no one would know or suspect.”

Philippa put her head in her hands, thinking. Concocting a plan, anything. Just as she was about to speak again, Ciri and Yennefer came back. “Perfect, you’re here. We need to get out of here right now, all of us, that includes you, assassin.” Milva gave her a surprised look at that. “We need to hide somewhere and I need to contact my girls. Milva was it? I’m going to help you find Angoulême.”

Milva was surprised with the statement, as was Sheala and the rest of them. They never expected Philippa to take part in this personal matter. “I can feel you staring at me. I’m not a monster, I won’t let this girl be a hostage because of me and if I do that Miva can help us find the bastard, gather information, we have a common goal. But don’t think me a fool young girl, I don’t trust you.”

“Right, I didn’t suspect you would, but I’ll prove to you that I am trustworthy.” Said Milva with determination.

“You do that. Then I need you to go find Geralt and your team. They would be a great help, and if they won’t do it for me, tell them to do it for the child.”

Ciri interrupted. “And us?”

Philippa smiled, showing her teeth. “We’re going to the abandoned castle of Vizimir.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Milva is here, and now it's time for some serious shit, stay tuned for the next chapter, hope you enjoyed this one!


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